foiled  / &G 


[Reprinted  from  Economic  Geology,  Vol.  XV  No  4 June  1920  ] 


iEDtOGY 


NOTES  ON  THE  COAL  INDUSTRY  OF  NORTH- 
EASTERN FRANCE,  BELGIUM,  THE  SAAR, 

AND  WESTPHALIA,  1904-1913. 

THE  COAL  INDUSTRY  OF  NORTHEASTERN  FRANCE,  BELGIUM,  THE 
SAAR  DISTRICT  AND  WESTPHALIA  FOR  THE  PRE-WAR 
DECADE,  I904-I9 13. 


H.  F.  Crooks. 


Introduction . 

The  following  notes  represent  a summary  of  data  on  the  coal 
mining  industries  of  northeastern  France,  Belgium,  the  Saar 
District,  and  Westphalia,  collected  by  the  writer  and  others  to- 
gether with  similar  data  on  iron  ore,  from  French,  German,  and 
Belgian  sources  in  Paris,  and  embodied  in  a report  to  the  Amer- 
ican Commission  to  Negotiate  Peace,  by  Alfred  H.  Brooks  and 
M.  F.  La  Croix.1  (See  Fig.  35.) 

It  is  not  contended  that  any  of  these  data  are  new,  but  they 
represent  a digest  of  data  scattered  through  eight  hundred  re- 
ports, and  they  have  not  been  similarly  assembled  heretofore  in 
the  French,  German,  or  English  literature.  To  realize  fully  the 
vital  importance  of  the  coal  industries  to  the  countries  in  ques- 


1 Brooks,  Lt.  Col.  A.  H.,  Engrs.  U.  S.  A.,  La  Croix,  Maj.  M.  F.  “Reports 
on  the  Iron,  Steel,  and  Associated  Industries  of  Lorraine,  the  Saar  District, 
Luxembourg,  and  Belgium.”  American  Commission  to  Negotiate  Peace, 
War  Damages  Board,  Section  of  Mines  and  Metallurgy,  Paris,  April  15,  1919. 

277 


...5' 


W' 

3$' 


#hm.o«c 


278 


H.  F.  CROOKS. 


Fig.  35.  Bituminous  coal  basins  of  northern  France,  Saar,  Westphalia,  and 

Belgium. 


279 


C cL<L  c^coU^y 

NOTES  ON  COAL  INDUSTRY. 

tion,  in  relation  to  the  metallurgical  industries,  attention  is  called 
to  an  article  on  the  subject  by  Brooks  and  La  Croix.2 

While  there  are  other  uses  for  coal  than  in  the  metallurgic  in- 
dustries, its  consumption  for  those  purposes  is  the  greater  per- 
centage of  the  production,  and  since  these  industries  form  the 
economic  backbone  of  the  countries  in  question,  the  treatment  of 
the  coal  industries  is  from  that  standpoint. 

The  writer  is  indebted  to  the  bibliothecaires  of  the  Haute  Ecole 
des  Mines  and  Comite  des  Forges  de  France,  Paris,  for  placing 
their  resources  at  his  disposal,  as  well  as  to  Lt.  Col.  Brooks  fbr 
suggestions  on  the  treatment  of  the  subject,  and  to  Dr.  W.  S. 
Bayley  for  reading  of  the  manuscript. 

The  discussion  of  French  coal  is  limited  to  the  northeastern 
fields.  This  is  because  of  the  fact  that  the  most  extensive  de- 
posits of  coal  are  there  located,  that  the  production  of  the  region 
is  about  80  per  cent,  of  all  France,  and  that  the  metallurgic  plants 
situated  within  it,  as  well  as  most  of  those  of  the  Briey-Longwy 
area,  the  Loir,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  le  Creusot  are  supplied  with 
coal  and  coke  from  the  Nord  and  Pas-de-Calais  fields. 

The  best  published  estimates  of  the  coal  reserves  of*  Europe 
are  those  given  at  the  Toronto  meeting  of  the  International  Geo- 
logical Congress  in  1913.  These  estimates  are  only  approxima- 
tions but  may  be  considered  fairly  accurate  as  far  as  the  large 
European  nations  go,  for  very  careful  records  of  annual  produc- 
tion have  been  kept  since  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century, 
and  these  together  with  drill  records  have  enabled  engineers  to 
carefully  outline  boundaries  of  actual  reserves  and  thus  note  their 
diminishment.  The  table  of  reserves  which  follows  includes  an- 
thracite as  well  as  bituminous  coal,  both  being  actual  reserves  to 
a depth  of  2,000  meters  (4,000  feet).  Of  the  total  reserves  in 
1913,  England  had  49.4  per  cent.;  Germany,  34.6  per  cent.; 
France,  1.6  per  cent. ; Belgium,  4.0  per  cent. ; Spain,  2.2  per  cent. ; 
Austria,  1.1  per  cent. ; and  the  remainder  of  Europe,  7.1  per  cent. 
The  paucity  of  the  French  reserves  in  comparison  4o  those  of 
Germany  is  well  shown. 

2 Brooks,  A.  H.  and  La  Croix,  M.  F.,  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey  Bull.  No.  703  (in 
press).  “Iron  and  Steel  Industries  of  Lorraine,  the  Saar  District,  Luxem- 
bourg, and  Belgium.”  1920. 


28o 


H.  F.  CROOKS. 


In  this  paper  areas  are  in  hectares  (2.47  acres),  lengths  in 
meters  (3.28  feet),  weights  in  tons  of  1,000  kilograms  (2,205.48 
lbs.),  and  money  values  in  francs  and  marks  (1  franc  = $0. 193 ; 
1 mark  = $0.25). 

TABLE  I. 


European  Reserves  of  Coal  (Actual)  1913  (Metric  Tons)  (0 — 2000  m.). 


Germany 

Westphalia  71,213,000,000 

Saar  16,548,000,000 

Remainder  7,104,000,000 

Total  

France 

Nord  and  Pas-de-Calais 3,790,000,000 

Remainder  413,325,000 

Total  


England  (Eng.,  Scot.,  Wales,  Ireland) 


94,865,000,000 


4,203,325,000 

135,292,569,000 


Belgium 

Hainautl 
Liege  J 
Campine  . 
Total 


3,000,000,000 

•8,000,000,000 

11,000,000,000 


Spain  6,22 0,000,000 

Austria  2,770,000,000 

Remainder  of  Europe  19,638,106,000 

Grand  Total  274,189,000,000 


The  figures  of  Table  I.  are  shown  diagrammatically  in  Fig.  36 
which  follows. 


Fig.  36.  European  Coal  Reserves. 


NOTES  ON  COAL  INDUSTRY. 


281 


THE  COAL  INDUSTRY  OF  NORTHEASTERN  FRANCE. 

General. — Productive  coal  bearing  areas  of  the  northeastern 
part  of  France  in  the  Departments  of  Pas-de-Calais  and  the  Nord 
extend  in  an  east-west  direction  from  the  vicinity  of  Aire-sur-la- 
Lys,  through  Bethune,  Lens,  Douai,  and  Valenciennes  to  the 
Belgian  frontier  (Fig.  35).  A network  of  canals  and  railroads 
traverse  the  area,  furnishing  alike  excellent  means  of  transport 
to  the  interior,  the  English  Channel,  and  Belgium.  Unlike  the 
Belgian  mines,  which  the  Germans  operated  after  the  establish- 
ment of  position  warfare  and  whose  surface  works  are  only  par- 
tially destroyed,  the  majority  of  the  French  mines  in  the  Bethune 
and  Lens  regions  have  not  only  had  their  surface  works  damaged 
by  battle  fire  as  well  as  by  wanton  destruction,  but  have  suffered 
underground  wrecking  and  flooding  to  such  an  extent  that  it  is 
not  thought  they  can  be  re-established  fully  on  a pre-war  basis 
before  1921. 

Besides  the  two  coal-bearing  areas  above  mentioned,  there  is  in 
the  Pont-a-Mousson  region  a continuation  of  the  Saar  coal  field 
which  has  been  discovered  by  drilling,  but  which  is  not  yet  ex- 
ploited. Although  it  covers  an  area  15,000  hectares,  the  beds 
have  only  an  aggregate  thickness  of  0.65  to  6.3  meters.  There- 
fore, its  reserves  will  be  an  unimportant  asset  to  the  metallurgic 
industry  of  the  Minettegebiet. 

Geologic  Features. — Coal  in  northeastern  France  occurs  in  the 
Westphalian  series  of  the  Carboniferous  system.  Taken  in  their 
assembly,  the  coal  formations  become  thicker  from  east  to  west 
in  the  direction  of  extent  of  the  basins,  and  thicken  in  the  trans- 
verse direction  from  north  to  south.  The  diastrophic  movements 
affecting  the  South  Basin  of  Belgium  likewise  affected  the  Nord 
and  Pas-de-Calais  basins  of  France,  the  areas  being  delimited 
both  on  the  north  and  south  by  east-west  trending  thrust  faults  of 
considerable  magnitude.  Under  the  influence  of  these  movements 
the  southern  part  of  the  basins  was  folded,  elevated,  and.  refolded 
on  itself.  To  complicate  the  structure,  the  entire  width  of  the 
basin  is  cut  by  minor  radial  faults  of  the  fantail  type.  The  result 
of  these  movements  is  that  the  coal  measures  dip  toward  the  south 


28  2 


H.  F.  CROOKS. 


at  from  20°  to  50°.  Coal  of  anthracite  grade  is  mined  along  the 
northern  border  of  the  basins,  while  there  is  a progressive  in- 
crease in  volatile  matter  content  of  the  coal  mined  toward  the 
south. 

The  Bassin  de  Pont-a-Mousson  contains  coal  similar  to  that  of 
the  Saar  district,  that  is  to  say,  of  inferior  coking  value*  The 
coal  occurs  in  the  lower  part  of  the  Ottweiler  stage  of  the  Ste- 
phanian  series,  and  in  the  Saarbriicken  stage  of  the  Westphalian 
series,  that  of  the  latter  and  lower  series  being  of  the  coking 
variety  while  that  of  the  former  is  generally  anthracitic.  It  is 
found  at  depths  ranging  from  659  to  1,487  meters,  and  is  in  thin 
seams  varying  from  a few  centimeters  to  one  and  one  half  meters 
in  thickness.  The  beds  lie  along  an  anticline  and  have  variable 
dips  from  8°  to  50°  toward  the  west,  those  of  the  highest  coking 
value  having  the  lower  dips.  Generally  speaking,  this  coal  horizon 
of  the  Pont-a-Mousson  basin  is  of  poorer  quality  than  that  of 
the  Saar  district. 

Geographic  Distribution. — The  Bassin  du  Nord  occupies  that 
area  between  the  Belgian  frontier  and  the  promontory  d’Auby, 
having  a length  of  45  kilometers  and  a width  of  15  to  20  kilo- 
meters. It  is  divided  into  three  regions  from  east  to  west: 
(a)  Valenciennes;  ( b ) Denain;  (c)  Douai. 

The  Bassin  du  Pas-de-Calais  is  the  westward  extension  of  the 
Bassin  du  Nord,  and  extends  from  the  promontory  d’Auby  on 
the  east  to  Fleehinelle  on  the  west,  a distance  of  about  58  kilo- 
meters. It  has  been  divided  into  three  regions,  each  separated 
from  the  others  by  faults;  they  are:  ( a ) Centrale;  (b)  Nord; 
( c ) Sud-Ouest. 

The  Bassin  de  Pont-a-Mousson,  which  was  discovered  by  drill- 
ing in  1903,  is  situated  just  south  of  the  Briey-Longwy  iron  ore 
district  with  the  city  of  Pont-a-Mousson  as  its  center.  The  de- 
velopment of  this  basin  will  be  slofa  in  consequence  of  the  depth 
of  mining  and  to  attendant  difficulties  arising  from  the  presence 
of  water-bearing  overlying  sediments  with  strong  artesian  flows. 
Table  II.  shows  the  kinds  of  coal  produced  in  each  district. 


NOTES  ON  COAL  INDUSTRY. 


283 


TABLE  II. 

Bassin  du  Nord. 


Region. 

Location  of  Area. 

No.  of 

Veins. 

No.  of 
Mines  in 
Opera- 
tion 
1912. 

Thickness  of 
Coal,  Meters. 

Average 
Depth 
of  Min- 
ing, 
Meters. 

Kind  of  Coal 
Produced. 

Ave. 

Max. 

Valenciennes 

Conde. . . . 

Between  Belgian  fron- 
tier and  Valenciennes 

10 

4 

7.15 

7.60 

270 

Anthracite. 

Environs  of  Conde  . . . 

Thiers .... 

Environs  of  Thiers  . . . 

17 

4 

II.40 

12.80 

390 

Long-flame, 

short-flame, 

semi-bitu- 

minous, 

anthracite. 

Denain 

d’Aren- 
berg 

Between  Valenciennes 
and  Aniche 

9 

20 

6.25 

6.50 

205 

Anthracite. 

Near  d’Arenberg  & de 
Sessevalle 

Aniche .... 

Near  Abscon  and 
Aniche 

9 

11 

6.00 

7.30 

285 

Semi-bitu- 

minous. 

Douai 

Between  Aniche  and 
Pas-de-Calais 

25 

2 

17.00 

23.OO 

800 

Semi-bitu- 

minous, 

short-flame. 

North  of  Douai 

South  of  Douai 

38 

7 

24.90 

27.OO 

1,100 

Short-flame, 

long-flame. 

Bassin  du  Pas  de  Calais. 


Centrale 

Lens 

12 

20 

n-75 

21.00 

325 

Short-flame, 
long-flame, 
gas  coal. 

Region  of  Lens  and 
Lievin 

Dourges  . . 

East  of  Lens 

29 

8 

27.50 

38.00 

693 

Short-flame, 
long-flame, 
gas  coal. 

Noeux .... 

Vicinity  of  Noeux .... 

17 

19 

13-50 

17-30 

410 

Short-flame, 
long-flame, 
gas  coal. 

Bully- 
Gr&nag  . . 

Between  Noeux  & Lens 

15 

15 

13-30 

14.20 

345 

Long-flame, 
gas  coal. 

284 


H.  F.  CROOKS. 


Region. 

Location  of  Area. 

No.  of 

Veins. 

No.  of 
Mines  in 
Opera- 
tion 
1912. 

Thickness  of 
Coal,  Meters. 

Average 
Depth 
of  Min- 
ing, 

Meters. 

Kind  of  Coal 
Produced. 

Ave. 

Max. 

Nord 

Ostricourt . 

12 

22 

8.75 

9.00 

420 

Anthracite. 

Sud-Ouest 

Bruay. . . . 

25 

14 

23.IO 

28.28 

442 

Long-flame, 
gas  coal. 

Vicinity  of  Bruay, 
Maries  and  Ferfay  . . 

Flechinelle 

Flechinelle 

18 

4 

14.OO 

350 

Long-flame, 
gas  coal. 

Classification  of  Coal. — The  classification  of  French  coal  is 
similar  to  that  of  Belgian,  amplified  to  include  coal  of  high  gas 
content.  Table  III.  gives  the  relations : 


TABLE  III. 


(F)  Charbons  gaz.,  with  more  than  

(F)  Charbons  gras  flambant,  with 

(B)  Charbons  Flenus  Secs.,  with  more  than 

(F)  Charbons  gras  a coke,  with  

(B)  Charbons  Flenus  gras,  with  

(F)  Charbons  demi-gras,  with  

(B)  Charbons  demi-gras,  with  

(F)  Charbons  Maigres  and  Anth.,less  than 
(B)  Charbons  maigres,  less  than  


32%  V.M. 

26-32%  V.M.l  Short  Flame 


25%  V.M.  J 

coal 

Bitumi- 

17-26%  V.M.) 

Long  Flame 

- nous 

16-25%  V.M.  J 

coal 

(U.S.) 

12-17%  V.M.) 

Semi- 

1 1-16%  V.M.  J 

1 Bituminous 

12%  V.M.) 
11%  V.M.j 

j>  Anthracite  j 

I Anthra- 
V cite 

1 (U.S.) 

(F)  France;  (B)  Belgium. 


Labor. — The  French  introduced  foreign  labor,  for  the  most 
part  Italians  and  Germans,  and  while  no  statistics  are  at  hand  to 
indicate  the  per  cent.,  it  is  said3  that  they  represent  about  forty 
per  cent,  of  the  total  (203,306)  mine  laborers. 

The  average  annual  wage  for  all  classes  of  employees  in  1913 
was  1,452  francs,  which  for  three  hundred  working  days  in  the 
year  gives  4.99  francs  per  day. 

The  average  annual  production  per  individual  in  1913,  for  all 
of  France,  was  199  metric  tons. 

The  number  of  concessions  exploited  in  France  decreased  from 

a Commandant  Edgar  Parlongue,  Belgian  Army.  (Oral  statement  to  writer.) 


NOTES  ON  COAL  INDUSTRY. 


285 


290  in  1904  to  245  in  1913,  due  to  exhaustion  of  reserves  and  to 
lack  of  demand  for  coal  of  the  quality  mined.  The  average 
annual  production  per  individual  increased  from  199  tons  in  1964 
to  203  tons  in  1912,  then  dropped  to  197  tons  in  1913;  the  fluc- 
tuation being  due  to  variations  of  supply  and  demand  rather 
than  to  decreased  individual  efficiency. 

Production , Costs,  and  Profits. — In  1913,  326,347  hectares  of 
concessions  were  being  worked  by  232  mines;  of  these,  138 
showed  a total  net  profit  of  74,528,050  francs,  while  94  showed 
a loss  of  27,578,050  francs.  In  Table  III.  the  average  selling 
price  per  ton  at  the  mine  is  taken  as  the  value  quoted  by  the  Coal 
Exchange  (Carreau  des  Mines). 


TABLE  III. 

Cost,  Average  Selling  Price,  and  Profit  of  Coal  (1912  and  1913). 


Francs. 

19x2 

Per  Cent,  of  Av. 
Selling  Price. 

Francs. 

I91 3 

Per  Cent,  of  Av. 
Selling  Price. 

Total  cost 

14.42 

92.71 

15.38 

92.26 

Selling  price  at  mine 

IS.SI 

100.00 

16.55 

100.00 

Profit 

I.09 

7.29 

1. 17 

7-74 

Production  of  Coal. — The  increase  in  production  between  1904 
and  1913  of  only  seven  million  metric  tons  serves  in  a measure  to 
indicate  not  only  the  intensiveness  of  mining  operations  but  the 
poverty  of  France  in  coal.  It  is  this  poverty,  which,  in  view  of 
her  extensive  metallurgical  industries,  casued  an  increase  for  the 
decade  to  imports  of  nine  million  tons  in  1913,  equalling  about 
50  per  cent,  of  the  production  for  that  year.  (See  Fig.  37.) 


TABLE  IV. 

French  Coal  Production  (Metric  Tons). 


Year.  1 

No. 

Mines. 

Total  ' 

Production. 

Mean  Value 
per  Ton 
(Francs). 

Nord. 

Pas  de  Calais 

Rest. 

France. 

1904 

290 

5.905.900 

15,812,400 

11,784,100 

33,502,400 

13.30 

1907 

276 

6,362,900 

17,216,400 

12,409,600 

35.988,900 

14.97 

1909 

254 

6,522,200 

18,409,400 

12,184,300 

37,115,900 

15-22 

1911 

258 

6,646,900 

19,493,000 

12,380,900 

38,520,800 

15.24 

1913  1 

232 

6,814,000 

20,575,000 

13.455.000 

40,051,000 

I6.554 

4 The  cost  of  mining  for  1913  was  13.19  francs. 


286 


H.  F.  CROOKS. 


Imports  and  Exports. — French  exports  of  coal  are  very  small 
due  to  her  own  needs;  they  average  about  1,500,000  metric  tons 
per  year  for  the  decade. 

Imports  represent  about  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  annual  produc- 
tion, with  England  and  Belgium  as  the  principal  sources.  The 
metallurgic  industries  of  the  Nord  and  Pas-de-Calais  basins  are 
supplied  from  local  sources,  but  those  of  Lorraine  rely  almost 
entirely  on  coal  and  coke  imported  from  Belgium,  the  Saar  dis- 
trict, and  Westphalia;  the  large  English  imports  being  used  for 
the  littoral  metallurgic  plants,  and  for  other  industrial  and  do- 
mestic purposes.  With  the  acquisition  of  the  Saar  coal  fields 
these  imports  will  be  reduced  somewhat;  however,  for  Lorraine 
iron  ore,  Westphalian  coke  must  always  be  mixed  with  that  of 
the  Saar  for  smelting  purposes,  so  it  is  seen  that  the  reduction 
will  not  be  important. 


TABLE  V. 

Sources  of  Coal  Used  in  France  (Metric  Tons). 


1904. 

1910, 

I9I3- 

Total  French  production 

33,502,400 

37,634,900 

40,051,000 

Imports  from  Germany 

2,420,000 

4,577,000 

6,673,700 

“ “ Belgium 

4,953,000 

5,382,000 

4,397,500 

“ England 

7,183,000 

9,919,000 

11,270,000 

“ “ Other  countries 

6,000 

14,000 

452,600 

Total  imports 

14,562,000 

19,892,000 

22,793,800 

Total  French  consumption 

47,030,000 

56,530,000 

61,458,200 

Reserves. — The  coal  reserves  of  France  as  given  by  Defline5 
are  the  only  figures  available,  and  unfortunately  they  do  not  sep- 
arate the  northeastern  area  into  basins.  However,  it  is  known 
that  the  reserves  of  the  Bassin  du  Pas-de-Calais  far  exceed  those 
of  the  Nord  in  all  grades  as  well  as  in  coking  coal’ reserves.  The 
larger  area  of  reserves  are  along  the  southern  borders  of  the 
basins.  Estimates  of  the  Pont-a-Mousson  basin  show  probable 
reserves  of  300,000,000  tons  of  coal  of  over  seventeen  per  cent, 
volatile  matter  content.  Development  of  this  area  will  increase 
this  figure  somewhat.  Table  VI.  shows  that  91  per  cent,  of  long 

5 Defline,  M.,  “ Coal  Resources  of  the  World.”  12th  Int.  Geol.  Congress, 
Toronto,  1913. 


NOTES  ON  COAL  INDUSTRY. 


287 


flame  coal  reserves,  94  per  cent,  of  coking  coal  reserves,  and  90 
per  cent,  of  the  semi-bituminous  and  anthracite  reserves  are  con- 


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* — , 

i "4-- 

Imports  from  Germany 
1 1 1— — 1 

) 

o 

<7> 


10 

o 

<3> 


<N  2 

5 2 


Fig.  37.  French  Production,  Consumption,  and  Imports  of  Coal. 


fined  to  the  northeastern  fields.  The  figures  given  are  for  actual 
reserves  only. 

TABLE  VI. 

French  Coal  Reserves,  1913  (Metric  Tons). 


Basin. 

Long  Flame. 

Short  Flame. 

Semi-bituminous 
and  Anthracite. 

Remarks. 

Nord-Anzin 

1,680,000,000 

1,010,000,000 

1,100,000,000 

Actual  above 

Remainder  of  France  . . 

172,120,000 

61,205,000 

156,950,000 

1,200  m. 
Actual  above 

Total 

1,852,120,000 

1,071,205,000 

1,256,950,000 

1,200  m. 

Commercial  Use  of  French  Coal. — France  consumes  as  coke 
in  her  metallurgical  plants  about  eleven  per  cent,  of  the  coal 
mined ; of  this  figure,  a minor  portion  goes  to  the  Lorraine  blast 
furnaces,  the  major  part  being  used  to  smelt  Lorraine  ore  in  the 
northern  furnaces.  In  1913,  the  northern  French  fields  supplied 


288 


H.  F.  CROOKS. 


the  Lorraine  plants  with  1,596,000  tons  of  coke  and  400,000  tons 
of  coal,  against  2,478,800  tons  of  coke  and  1,814,700  tons  of  coal 
received  from  other  sources,  principally  Westphalian.  The  steel 
plants  and  blast  furnaces  of  the  massif  centrale  and  the  lower 
Loire  consume  large  quantities  of  both  coke  and  coal,  supplied 
almost  entirely  from  French  sources. 

Conclusion. — With  the  accession  of  the  Saar  coal  fields  the 
French  reserves  increase  from  4,180,300,000  tons  to  20,728,- 
300,000  tons.  This  causes  one  to  conclude  that  an  ample  supply 
of  coke  is  assured  for  French  metallurgy.  That  such  a conclu- 
sion is  premature  will  be  shown  later,  for  Saar  coal  is  of  inferior 
coking  quality  for  blast  furnace  practice  unless  mixed  with  West- 
phalian coke.  The  development  of  the  Pont-a-Mousson  basin 
will  add  but  little  to  the  French  supply,  therefore,  France  muit 
turn  in  the  future,  as  in  the  past,  to  coal  and  coke  from  West- 
phalia for  her  furnaces.  Coal  from  the  Campine  basin  of 
Belgium  is  of  good  coking  quality,  and  with  the  establishment 
of  transportation  relations  with  Lorraine,  freight  rates  between 
these  localities  will  be  able  to  compete  with  those  between  West- 
philia  and  the  latter,  and  thus  tend  to  equalize  prices  of  Campine 
and  Westphalia  coke. 

THE  COAL  INDUSTRY  OF  BELGIUM,  I9O4-I913. 

General. — There  are  two  well-defined  coal-bearing  areas  in 
Belgium:  the  South  Basin,  also  known  as  the  Bassin  du  Haine- 
Sambre-Meuse,  a continuation  of  the  Bassin  du  Nord  of  France, 
continuing  in  turn  into  Prussia  as  the  Aachen  field ; and  the  North 
Basin,  or  Bassin  du  Campine,  an  area  but  recently  explored  by 
drilling  and  unproductive  as  yet  (see  Fig.  35). 

Geological  Features. — Belgian  coal  occurs  in  the  lower  Na- 
murien  and  upper  Westphalian  series  of  the  Carboniferous  sys- 
tem. It  is  thought  by  Renier6  to  have  been  deposited  in  the 
Carboniferous  channel  of  the  Haine  River.  Subsequent  denuda- 
tion has  removed  a portion  of  the  covering  of  post-Paleozoic 

6 Renier,  A.,  “ Les  Resources  Houilleres  de  la  Belgique,”  Congres  Geologique 
International,  Toronto,  Canada,  1913,  Coal  Resources  of  the  World,  Volume 
II.,  p.  802. 


NOTES  ON  COAL  INDUSTRY. 


289 


rocks,  leaving  the  coal  measures  within  easy  access  of  the  surface. 
Shortly  after  the  close  of  the  Carboniferous,  diastrophic  move- 
ments of  the  Hercynienne  phase  caused  folding  and  faulting  of 
the  coal-bearing  strata,  leaving  them  in  a geosyncline  complicated 
with  minor  east-west  plications,  cut  by  numerous  faults  parallel 
to  the  synclinal  strike,  and  by  radial  faults  which  open  toward  the 
south  in  the  form  of  a fantail. 

Geographic  Distribution. — The  South  Basin  underlies  the  prov- 
inces of  Hainaut,  Namur,  and  Liege;  it  is  divided  into  districts 
in  each  province.  The  North  Basin  lies  in  the  provinces  of  Lim- 
bourg  and  Anvers.  The  various  districts,  and  the  kinds  of  coal 
produced  in  each  are  shown  in  Table  VII. 

The  North  Basin  ( Bassin  du  Campine). — The  only  develop- 


TABLE  VII. 
South  Basin. 


Province. 

District. 

No.  of 
Mines  in 
Opera- 

Thickness of 
Seam  (Meters). 

Ave. 
Depth 
of  Min- 

Kind of  Coal  Produced. 

tion 

1913- 

Ave. 

Max. 

ing 

(Meters). 

Hainaut. 

Mons  (a) . . . 

24 

0-55 

I.70 

Long-  and  short-flame  (cok- 
ing). 

Semi-bituminous. 

Centre  ( b ) . . 

II 

O.65 

450 

Long-flame  (limited). 
Short-flame  (coking). 
Semi-bituminous. 

Charleroi  (c) 

13 

O.70 

550 

Short-flame  (coking)  near 
Charleroi.  Semi-bitumin- 

ous near  Charleroi.  South 
of  Sambre  R.  coking  and 
forge  coal. 

Anthracite  in  east  part. 

Namur. . 

Namur  (d). . 

12 

0.75 

Semi-bituminous,  low  grade. 
Anthracite,  low  grade. 

Liege . . . 

Liege  ( e ) and 
Herve 

43 

0.45 

1.80 

450 

Short-flame  (coking). 
Semi-bituminous. 

Anthracite. 

Location  of  areas:  (a)  “ Couchant  de  Mons  ” or  “ Borinage  ” lies  between 
French  frontier  and  Mons. 

( b ) The  Bassin  du  Centre  lies  between  Mons  and  Charleroi;  bounded  on 
north  by  the  Brussels  Canal,  and  on  south  by  Sambre  River. 

( c ) From  Charleroi  to  eastern  boundary  of  Hainaut. 

( d ) Basin  is  very  narrow.  Depth  less  than  that  of  either  Hainaut  or  Liege. 

(e)  District  extends  from  east  to  west  boundaries  of  province  and  con- 
tinues on  east  as  the  Aachen  field  in  Prussia. 


290 


H.  F.  CROOKS. 


ment  of  the  Campine  basin,  since  its  discovery  in  1901,  has  been 
by  drilling.  The  coal-bearing  area  occupies  the  north-central 
part  of  the  Province  of  Limbourg,  and  has  been  followed  into 
the  central  part  of  the  Province  of  Anvers.  From  northwest  to 
southeast  its  approximate  length  is  90  kilometers,  and  its  width 
is  from  12  to  16  kilometers.  The  conceded  territories  cover  an 
area  of  315  sq.  km.,  while  the  zone  of  reserves  covers  an  area  of 
195  sq.  km.7  The  thickness  of  the  overburden,  varying  from  370 
meters  in  the  southeastern  part  to  1,000  meters  along  the  north- 
ern extremity  in  Limbourg,  together  with  its  water-soaked  char- 
acter will  make  rapid  development  difficult. 

In  1913,  twelve  shafts  were  being  sunk  by  seven  companies, 
but  up  to  the  outbreak  of  the  war  none  of  these  had  been  'bot- 
tomed. After  conditions  of  the  German  occupation  stabilized 
work  continued,  but  was  slow  due  to  heavy  inflow  of  water  from 
overlying  strata.  However,  early  in  1919  several  of  these  mines 
began  to  produce  in  limited  quantity.  Drill  logs  show  the  beds, 
though  thin,  to  be  very  regular  and  persistent.  Their  inclinations 
vary  from  a few  degrees  to  a maximum  of  thirty-five  degrees. 
According  to  the  Annales  des  Mines  de  Belgique 8 the  Campine 
Basin  consists  of  the  following  beds : 


Numbers  of  Beds. 

At  a Depth 
of 

(Meters). 

Number  of 
Exploitable 
Beds. 

Mean  Total 
Thickness 
of  Coal  in 
Exploitable 
Beds 
(Meters). 

Percentage 
of  Exploit- 
able Coal 
(%)• 

Per  Cent. 
Volatile 
Matter 
(%)• 

I 

500 

10 

8.00 

I.60 

35-40 

II 

280 

IO-14 

9.00 

3-20 

32-47 

240 

II-I8 

II.60 

4.80 

22-38 

Ill 

l60 

4-  5 

3-40 

2.10 

18-30 

IV 

160-200 

barren 

V 

380 

5-  7 

4.00 

1.05 

12-26 

Productive  Beds  Explored. 

II.  and . . 

1,760 

46 

36.00 

2.00 

12-47 

III.-IV 

1 700 

30 

24.00 

3.40 

1 18-47 

Classification  of  Coal. — The  classification  of  Belgian  coal  is 
based  upon  the  volatile  matter  content,  all  coal  containing  more 

7 Renier,  A.,  idem,  p.  816. 

8 Tome  XIV.,  ier  Livraison,  1914,  p.  18. 


NOTES  ON  COAL  INDUSTRY. 


291 


than  eleven  per  cent,  volatile  matter  being  included  in  our  term 
bituminous,  while  that  with  less  than  eleven  per  cent,  corresponds 
more  or  less  closely  with  our  anthracite.  This  relation  is  best 
shown  as  follows : 


Charbons  Flenus  secs,  contain  more  than  25%  V.M.=Long  flame  'j  -p. 

Charbons  Flenus  gras  contain  16-25%  V.M.=Short  flame  >■  1 .l^11g°US 

Charbons  demi-gras  contain  11-16%  V.M.=Semi-bitumJ 


Charbons  maigres  contain  less  than  . . . 


11%  V.M.=Anthracite 


Labor . — Most  of  the  laborers  in  the  Belgian  coal  fields  are 
Belgian,  thus  contrasting  with  the  German  and  French  practice 
in  the  use  of  foreigners  in  their  mines.  In  1913,  the  total  was 
145,337- 

The  average  daily  wage  for  all  classes  of  workmen  in  the 
various  districts  was,  in  1913,  5.17  francs.  The  number  of  days 
of  work  in  the  same  year  was  298. 

Underground  conditions,  depth  of  mining,  etc.,  as  well  as  the 
character  of  surface  equipment  determine  to  a large  measure  the 
annual  production  per  individual;  it  varies  from  year  to  year, 
depending  somewhat  on  the  intensiveness  of  operations.  In.  1913, 
it  was  157  metric  tons. 

TABLE  VIII. 


Per  Ton. 

I 

906-1910. 

1912. 

I9I3- 

Francs. 

Per  Cent,  of 
Average  Selling 
Price. 

Francs. 

Per  Cent,  of 
Average  Selling 
Price. 

Francs. 

Per  Cent,  of 
Average  Selling 
Price. 

Total  cost 

14.04 

91. II 

16.22 

97-94 

17.51 

95-48 

Average  selling  price 

15-41 

100.00 

16.56 

100.00 

18.34 

100.00 

Profit 

1-37 

8.89 

0-34 

2.06 

O.83 

4-52 

Production f Costs , and  Profits. — In  1913,  there  were  126  mines 
in  operation;  of  these,  75  showed  a total  net  profit  of  33,905,100 
francs,  while  51  showed  a loss  of  14,960,050  francs.  Table  VIII. 
shows  the  cost,  average  selling  price,  and  profit  per  ton  of  coal 
for  the  years  indicated. 

Production  of  Coal. — As  will  be  seen  from  an  inspection  of 
Table  IX.,  the  coal  production  for  the  pre-war  decade  was  ap- 


292 


H.  F.  CROOKS. 


TABLE  IX. 

Belgian  Coal  Production  (Metric  Tons). 


Year. 

Long  Flame. 

Short  Flame. 

Semi-bitum. 

Anthracite. 

Total 

Production. 

1904 

2,409,970 

5,948,070 

10,492,250 

3,911,140 

22,761,430 

1907 

2,454,660 

6,092,500 

10,215,420 

4,942,610 

23.705,190 

1909 

2,243,210 

6,028,280 

10,268,100 

4,977,960 

23,517,550 

I9II 

2,387,800 

5.859,550 

9,631,010 

5,175.180 

23.053,540 

1913 

2,110,790 

5,453,626 

9,715,610 

5,561,570 

22,841,590 

proximately  at  the  rate  of  23,000,000  metric  tons  per  year;  fluc- 
tuations being  due  principally  to  variation  in  economic  conditions, 
abandonment  of  mines  because  of  exhaustion  of  reserves,  and  the 
delay  attendant  upon  the  opening  up  of  new  mines.  It  is  thought 
that  the  opening  of  new  mines  in  the  Campine  Basin  together 
with  the  installation  of  modern  machinery  to  replace  that  de- 
stroyed by  the  Germans  in  the  South  Basin  will  enable  Belgian 
mines  rapidly  to  re-establish  normal  production,  and  by  1920, 
to  show  the  annual  increase  usual  under  favorable  economic 
conditions.  A glance  at  Table  IX.  will  show  that  in  the  Mons 
and  Centere  districts,  the  production  of  long-flame  coal  declined 
fourteen  per  cent,  between  1904-19 13,  as  did  also  that  of  short- 
flame  coking  coal,  particularly  in  the  Liege  district  where  the  de- 
veloped reserves  are  becoming  exhausted;  this  decrease  for  the 
decade  in  the  latter  area  being  nine  per  cent,  of  the  1913  produc- 
tion. Semi-hituminous  production  remained  approximately  con- 
stant, while  that  of  anthracite  coal  showed  an  increase  of  twenty- 
seven  per  cent,  of  the  1913  production  for  the  decade,  this  being 
due  to  increases  in  both  the  Liege  and  Charleroi  districts. 

An  inspection  of  Fig.  38  shows  a very  constant  coal  production 
up  to  1910;  the  decrease  is  caused  not  only  by  diminution  of  re- 
serves, but  by  refined  metallurgic  practice  involved  in  the  use  of 
Westphalian  coal  as  coke.  Imports  from  England  were  largely 
for  domestic  purposes,  while  those  from  France  were  for  indus- 
trial use  by  the  frontier  plants. 

Coal  Imports  and  Exports. — In  spite  of  the  fact  that  Belgium 
produces  large  quantities  of  good  coking  and  domestic  coals,  she 
was  forced  to  import  considerable  tonnage  from  England,  France, 


NOTES  ON  COAL  INDUSTRY. 


293 


and  Germany.  This  importation,  in  1913,  was  thirty-nine  per 
cent,  of  the  production,  twenty-two  per  cent,  of  this  being  used 
expressly  in  the  manufacture  of  coke.  These  imports  came 
chiefly  from  the  Westphalian  and  Aachen  districts  in  Germany. 
(Table  X.) 


30 

i 

TOfi 

sumption 

v l 

25 

> — — 4 

r 

Product! 0 

n 

J s 

20  « 

MTTI 

0 

Met 
- To 

lone 

f"l  " 

15 

10 

Total  Imports 

Y 

5 

1 

iny 

, 

J | T 

N.— < 

’"Imports  from  En Aland 

► y 

ffIRpor’ta  Trom'  7? 

fee 

0 <! 

f- — 1 

TITTTTTT2  2 

as®®®---®  2 

Fig.  38.  Belgian  Production,  Consumption  and  Imports  of  Coal. 


TABLE  X. 

Sources  of  Coal  Used  in  Belgium  (Metric  Tons). 


1904. 

1910. 

i9*3- 

Total  Belgian  production 

22,761,430 

23.916,560 

22,841,590 

Imports  from  Germany 

2,311,094 

4,213,918 

5,728,406 

“ “ France 

664,000 

795,000 

811,000 

“ “ England 

614,242 

1,704,880 

2,031,077 

“ “ Other  countries 

604,534 

629,382 

285,670 

Total  imports 

4.193.870 

7,343,180 

8,856,153 

Total  Belgian  consumption 

20,228,577 

24,126,460 

26,046,094 

Reserves. — Statistics  on  the  coal  reserves  of  Belgium  given 
by  Renier  at  the  meeting  of  the  12th  International  Geological 
Congress  in  1913  are  the  only  ones  available.  While  the  coal- 


H.  F.  CROOKS. 


294 

bearing  areas  have  been  well-defined  by  drilling,  the  complicated 
structure  together  with  the  lack  of  continuity  of  given  horizons 
make  generalities  the  only  possible  method  of  estimation.  In  the 
South  Basin,  by  far  the  largest  percentage  of  reserves  are  in  the 
western  part  of  the  Province  of  Hainaut  near  the  French  fron- 
tier, in  the  north-central  part  of  the  Mons  Basin,  and  Bassin  du 
Centre.  East  of  Charleroi  and  in  the  Liege  district,  there  are  no 
significant  reserves  of  coking  coal.  The  estimates  of  reserves  in 
the  Campine  Basin  show  it  to  contain  about  eighty  per  cent,  of 
the  total  estimated  Belgian  reserves.  Table  XI.  shows  the  figures 
in  detail  : 


TABLE  XI. 

Belgian  Coal  Reserves  (Metric  Tons). 


Province. 

Long  Flame 
Coal. 

Short  Flame 
(Coking)  Coal. 

Semi-bituminous 
and  Anthracite. 

Above  Depth 
of  Meters. 

South  Basin 

Hainaut 

Liege  and  Namur 

500,000,000 

1,000,000,000 

100,000,000 

900,000,000 

500,000,000 

1,200 

1,200 

Campine  Basin 

Limbourg 

Anvers 

3,600,000,000 

2,900,000,000 

1,000,000,000 

500,000,000 

1,500 

1,500 

Total 

4,100,000,000 

5,000,000,000 

1,900,000,000 

Commercial  Use  of  Belgian  Coal. — Aside  from  the  use  of  coal 
for  domestic  purposes,  the  manufacture  of  coke  and  briquettes  is 
the  most  important  use  of  Belgian  coal.  In  spite  of  the  coun- 
try’s poverty  in  iron  ore,  the  metallurgical  industry  is  the  most 
important  of  Belgium.  This  is  due  to  the  contiguous  location  of 
the  Minettegebeit,  to  the  cheapness  of  smelting  costs,  and  to  the 
excellent  systems  of  canal  and  rail  transport  with  attendant  low 
haulage  charges  between  the  iron  mines  and  the  coal  fields. 

Conclusion. — It  has  been  shown  that  Belgium’s  future  so  far 
as  coal  is  concerned  lies  in  the  Campine  fields.  Even  with  this 
area  well  developed,  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  coke  produced  will 
be  able  to  compete  with  that  from  Westphalia.  The  demands  of 
the  iron  and  steel  industries  draw  heavily  on  the  coal  production, 


NOTES  ON  COAL  INDUSTRY. 


295 


and,  with  the  acquisition  of  Lorraine  Annexee  by  the  French, 
Belgian  blast  furnaces  will  be  called  upon  to  increase  their  out- 
puts, which  mean  a possible  thirty  per  cent,  increase  of  coke  con- 
sumption. The  haul  from  the  Saar  fields  is  too  expensive  to  per- 
mit coal  from  that  region  being  counted  upon;  so  until  the  Cam- 
pine  is  developed,  startling  increases  in  imports  of  German  coke 
must  be  looked  for. 

THE  COAL  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  SAAR  DISTRICT  (1904-I914). 

General. — The  Saar  District,  or  Saarbezirk,  is  the  third  largest 
of  Germany’s  coal  fields,  both  from  the  standpoint  of  reserve  as 
well  as  production.  Its  mines  are  controlled  by  two  interests, 
the  State,  and  by  private  corporations.  The  former  owns  four- 
teen mines  of  which  twelve  belong  to  the  Kingdom  of  Prussia 
and  two  to  the  Kingdom  of  Bavaria.  The  private  corporations 
own  six  concessions  as  follows:  Frankenholz,  owned  by  the 
French;  Hostenbach,  owned  by  a Prussian-Rhenish  organiza- 
tion ; one  owned  by  a Bavarian  Palatinate  corporation ; and  three 
others  in  Lorraine,  namely,  La  Houve,  Petite  Rossele,  and  the 
Saar-et-Moselle,  all  of  French,  or  mixed  French  and  German 
capitalization. 

In  this  paper,  the  Saar  District  is  understood  to  include  Ba- 
varian Pfalz,  Lothringen,  and  that  part  of  the  grand  duchy  of- 
Baden  underlain  by  coal  measures. 

Table  XII.  gives  the  approximate  areas  of  coal  lands  owned 

TABLE  XII. 


Coal  Land  Ownership  in  the  Saar  Field,  1913. 


Owned  by 

Rheinland 

(ha.). 

Bavarian  Palati- 
nate (ha.). 

Lorraine  An- 
nexed (ha.) 

Total  Area 
(ha.). 

Government 

Private  corporations 

110,000 

1 12 

4.370 

630 

42,570 

114,370 

43.312 

Totals 

110,112 

5.000 

42,570 

157,682 

by  the  government,  and  also  those  concessions  controlled  by  pri- 
vate corporations.  In  addition  to  the  lands  listed,  there  is  evi- 
dence that  there  may  be  coal  under  100,000  additional  hectares. 


296 


H.  F.  CROOKS. 


In  1913,  the  mineral  rights  to  these  lands  belonged  to  the  Prus- 
sian Government,  but  application  had  been  made  for  concessions 
of  about  5,000  hectares  adjacent  to  the  old  boundary  between 
French  Lorraine  and  Lorraine  Annexee. 

Geologic  Features. — Coal  occurs  in  the  Saar  District  in  the 
Stephanian  and  Westphalian  series  of  the  Carboniferous  sys- 
tem. The  beds  have  been  divided  as  follows  by  Defline:9 


'Upper  (sterile). 

Lower  (zone  of  anthracite  and  long  flame  coal) . 
.Sterile  transition  zone. 


Stephanian  series 

(Ottweiler  stage) 


Beds  of  long  flame  coal 


Westphalian  series 
(Saarbriick  stage) 


The  metamorphism  of  the  coal  measures  in  the  northern  part 
of  the  basin  has  rendered  the  coal  anthracitic  in  character.  The 
southern  part  of  the  basin  has  not  been  thus  affected,  and  it  is 
there  and  in  the  eastern  portion  of  the  area  that  the  largest  ton- 
nage of  coking  and  gas  coals  is  mined. 

The  basin  is  deliminated  on  the  south  by  an  east-west  trending 
fault  of  considerable  displacement,  and  mining  is  complicated  by 
numerous  NE.-SW.  and  NW.-SE.  trending  faults  of  the  fantail 
type  recognized  in  northeastern  France  and  Belgium.  On  the 
west,  the  coal  beds  plunge  under  a heavy  cover  of  younger  strata 
and  there  the  limits  will  be  determined  by  the  depth  of  profitable 
mining.  The  Saar  basin  contains  from  twenty-seven  to  thirty- 
seven  workable  coal  beds,  aggregating  38  to  43  meters  in  thick- 
ness and  at  depths  of  128  to  1,400  meters.  The  individual  beds 
are  all  less  than  1.5  meters  in  thickness,  and  are  separated  into  a 
number  of  benches  by  seams  of  bone  and  shale.  Table  XIII. 
gives  the  best  information  available  on  the  area  of  the  coal  lands : 

Geographic  Distribution. — The  coal  basin  of  the  Saar  covering 
an  area  of  about  six  hundred  square  kilometers  has  a length  of 

9 Defline,  M.,  “ Les  Ressources  de  la  France  en  Combustibles  Mineraux,” 
Coal  Resources  of  the  World,  12th  Int.  Geol.  Congress,  1913,  Volume  2,  p.  668. 


NOTES  ON  COAL  INDUSTRY. 


297 


TABLE  XIII. 

Area  of  Saar  Coal  Field. 

Area  of  Known  Coal  Lands 


Province.  (Hectares). 

Rheinland  (Saar  District)  100,000 

Bavarian  Palatinate 5,' 000 

Lorraine  -Annexe  30,000 

Total  135,000 


Area  of  Possible  Coal 
Lands  (Hectares). 


40,000 

60,000 

100,000 


sixty-eight  kilometers  between  Frankenholz  and  St.  Wendel  in  a 
northeast-southwest  direction,  and  a transverse  width  of  twenty- 
eight  kilometers  between  Dillingen  and  Saarbriick.  (See  Fig. 
35.)  Quoting  Schlichter10 

the  basin  is  divided  into  east,  west,  and  middle  regions,  all  producing 
principally  short-flame  (coking)  coal;  his  figures,  rearranged  for  the 
purpose,  are  as  follows: 

TABLE  XIV. 

Basin  of  the  Saar. 


Region. 

Location  of  Area. 

No.11 

of 

Veins. 

Thicki 

Coal 

(Met 

Ave. 

ness  of 

Veins 

:ers). 

Max. 

Average 
Depth  of 
Mining 
(Meters). 

Kind  of  Coal 
Produced. 

West  Fields 

Falkenberg  region .. 

32 

1-33 

I.41 

829 

Short-flame 

Central  Fields  . . 

Volklingen  region. . 

37 

1. 16 

1.25 

68l 

Short-flame 

East  Fields 

St.  Wendel  region  . 

27 

I.40 

1-52 

510 

Short-flame 

Classification  of  Coal. — Coal  mined  in  the  Saar  basin  has  re- 
ceived the  following  commercial  designations : magerkohle , which 
is  equivalent  to  the  long-flame  coal  of  the  French  and  to  the  flenus 
secs  of  the  Belgians  (V.  M.  content,  33-45  per  cent.) ; and 
flammkohle  and  fettkohle , which  are  the  same  as  the  short-flame 
coal  of  France  and  the  flenus  gras  of  Belgium  (V.  M.  content, 
20-33  Per  cent.).  This  classification  differs  considerably  from 
that  of  the  Westphalian  District  as  will  be  noted  later.  Based 
on  their  chemical  composition  and  calorific  value,  coal  in  western 
Germany  is  classified  as  follows:12 

10  Zeit.  fur  das  Berg-,  Hutten-,  und  Salinenwesen,  1910,  Band  II.,  p.  356. 

11  Twenty  mines  in  operation  in  1913. 

12  Gruner  and  Bousquet  (see  Bibliography). 


298 


H.  F.  CROOKS. 


TABLE  XV. 

Classification  of  Coal  of  Western  Germany. 


Saar  Coal  Basin. 


Aachen  Coal  Basin. 


Westphalian  Coal  Basin. 


Long  Flame  Coal. 


Short  Flame 
Coal. 


Flammkohle. 


Semi-bitu  mi- 
nous  Coal. 


- Anthracite. 


Gazkohle.  Fettkohle.  Magerkohle.  Anthrazit. 


re- 

74 

76 

78 

80 

82 

84 

86 

88 

90 

92 

94 

96 

97 

composition  i H. . 

5 

5 

5 

5 

5 

5 

5 

5 

5 

4 

3 

2 

1 

[O.. 

21 

19 

19 

15 

13 

11 

9 

7 

5 

4 

3 

2 

1 

Calorific  value. . . . 

6800 

7100 

7400 

7600 

7800 

8000 

8300 

8500 

8800 

8700 

8500 

8400 

8200 

Vaporization 

8.4 

8.4 

8.7 

9.0 

9.2 

9.4 

9.8 

10.0 

10.4 

10.2 

10.0 

9.9 

9.6 

Coke  (yield) 

50 

53 

55 

60 

63 

65 

70 

75 

78 

80 

90 

95 

98 

Volatile  matter 

content  (per 

cent.) 

37-45 

33-37  1 20-33 

5-20 

less  than  5 

Labor. — In  1913,  70,215  men  were  employed  in  the  Saar  coal 
mines,  of  whom  thirty  per  cent,  were  foreigners.  The  average 
annual  production  per  individual  in  1913  was  242  tons;  that  for 
the  government  mines  being  228  tons,  and  that  for  the  private 
mines  260  tons  per  employee.  Table  XVI.  shows  in  a measure 
the  inefficiency  in  operation  of  the  government  mines : 


TABLE  XVI. 

Cost,  Average  Selling  Price  and  Profit  Per  Ton  of  Coal. 


1904- 

1912. 

1913- 

Per  Metric  Ton. 

Government 

Mines. 

Private  Mines. 

Government 

Mines. 

Private  Mines. 

Marks. 

Aver. 

Selling 

Price 

(%)• 

Marks. 

Aver. 

Selling 

Price 

(%)- 

Marks. 

Aver. 

Selling 

Price 

(%)- 

Marks. 

Aver. 

Selling 

Price 

(%). 

Total  cost 

10.80 

90.60 

9.24 

77-73 

10-35 

85-85 

10.07 

83.55 

Average  selling  price 
at  mine 

II.91 

100.00 

II.91 

100.00 

12.07 

100.00 

12.07 

100.00 

Profit 

I. II 

9.40 

2.67 

22.27 

I.72 

14-15 

2.00 

16.43 

Production  of  Coal. — The  manner  in  which  statistics  on  pro- 
duction, etc.,  are  compiled  makes  research  difficult  for  data  on  the 
coal  basins  as  units.  In  the  table  which  follows,  the  Saar  Dis- 
trict is  understood  to  include  a portion  of  the  Bavarian  Palati- 


NOTES  ON  COAL  INDUSTRY. 


299 


nate,  Alsace-Lorraine,  the  Bavarian  inspection  district  of  Zwei- 
briicken  and  the  grand  duchy  of  Baden,  but  not  the  Oberberg- 
amtbezirk  Bonn  in  its  entirety.  The  steady  increase  in  produc- 
tion from  1904  to  1913  is  due  not  only  to  increased  output  of  the 
state  mines,  but  to  extensive  developments  and  the  introduction 
of  modern  mining  methods  by  the  private  mines.  It  has  long 
been  recognized  in  Germany  that  the  government  mines  were  less 
efficiently  operated  than  those  in  private  hands.  Evidence  of  this 
is  found  in  the  reported  cost  of  production.  As  shown  in  Table 
XVI.  the  average  cost  of  coal  mined  for  the  year  1913  was  10.35 
marks  per  ton  for  the  government  mines  and  10.07  marks  per 
ton  for  the  private  mines>  the  corresponding  profits  being  1.72 
marks  per  ton  in  the  former  instance  and  2.00  marks  in  the  latter. 
This  is  assuming  that  the  private  operators  sold  their  coal  at  the 
same  price  as  did  the  government,  which  is  not  always  correct, 
for  some  of  the  former  undersold  the  latter.  It  should  be  noted, 
however,  that  these  profits  are  much  higher  than  those  of  the 
French  and  Belgian  coal  mines. 


TABLE  XVII. 

Saar  Coal  Mines  and  their  Production  (Metric  Tons). 


1904. 

1910. 

*9*3- 

No.  active  mines 

19 

218 

10,363,700 

2,488,800 

19-35 

20 

200 

10,823,500 

3.589.500 

24.90 

20 

242 

13,006,200 

3,994,400 

23-54 

Aver.  Am.  Prod,  per  employee 

Production  of  state  mines 

Production  private  mines  (calculated) .... 
Per  cent,  of  total  product  (calculated) .... 

Total  production 

12,852,500 

14,413,000 

17,000,600 

Average  selling  price  per  ton  (marks) 

11.46 

12.20 

12.07 

Imports  and  Exports. — Since  the  Saar  District  consumes  only 
about  fifty-seven  per  cent,  of  the  coal  it  produces,  it  is  a natural 
export  province.  The  imports  are  relatively  small  and  are  in  the 
nature  of  coking  coal  and  coke  from  the  nearby  Westphalian  coal 
fields.  These  imports  are  made  necessary  because  of  the  fact 
that  it  has  been  found  impracticable  to  smelt  Lorraine  iron  ore 
with  Saar  coke  unless  the  coke  is  mixed  with  about  twenty  per 


300 


H.  F.  CROOKS. 


cent,  of  Westphalian,  or  equally  good  coke.  Taken  alone,  Saar 
coke  has  been  found  to  have  about  sixty-seven  per  cent,  the  effi- 
ciency of  Westphalian  coke. 

Of  the  exports  to  France,  nearly  the  entire  amount  is  deliv- 
ered to  blast  furnaces  in  the  Briey-Longwy  iron  ore  district.  In 
the  compilation  of  exports  (Table  XVIII.)  the  exports  to  “Other 
Countries”  are  almost  entirely  to  Switzerland  and  Italy. 

TABLE  XVIII. 


Sources  of  Coal  Consumed  in  Saar  District  (Metric  Tons). 


1904. 

I9IO. 

Total  Saar  production 

12,852,500 

588,200 

98,100 

628,000 

1,348,000 

38,000 

14,413,000 

705.500 

149,200 

376.000  E. 
3,587,000  E. 

727.000 

17,000,600 

810,900 

794.000 

134.000 
6,326,000 

900.000 

Imports  from  Westphalia 

Exports  to  France 

“ “ Belgium 

“ “ Germany 

“ “ Other  countries. . . . 

Total  exports 

2,012,000 

4,839,200 

8,154,000 

Total  consumption  of  Saar 

8,580,300 

10,279,300 

9.657.500 

E — estimated. 


Fig.  39.  Saar  District  Production,  Consumption  and  Exports  of  Coal. 


NOTES  ON  COAL  INDUSTRY. 


301 


A diagrammatic  representation  of  the  coal  production,  con- 
sumption, and  exports  of  the  Saar  District  is  shown  in  Fig.  39. 

Reserves. — The  estimates  of  Boker  given  at  the  Twelfth  In- 
ternational Geological  Congress  are  the  only  ones  at  hand.  It 
is  thought  that,  if  anything,  these  approximations  are  too  low. 
The  area  has  been  well  defined  by  drilling,  and  the  principal  actual 
reserves  have  been  located  in  the  east  half  of  the  basin.  The 
effect  of  the  control  of  these  reserves  by  France  has  already  been 
mentioned ; for,  from  a fifth-rate  power  as  regards  coal  reserves, 
she  advances  to  a position  of  third  in  Europe  following  Germany. 
The  tabulation  of  reserves  which  follows  shows  that  fifty-eight 
per  cent,  of  the  actual  reserves  of  cokable  coal  are  above  a depth 
of  1,200  meters,  as  are  also  fifty-nine  per  cent,  of  the  total  actual 
reserves. 

TABLE  XIX. 

Actual  Coal  Reserves  of  the  Saar  District,  1913  (Metric  Tons). 

Cokable  Coal.  Total  Coal. 

Between  o and  1,200  meters 9,042,000,000  9,760,000,000 

Between  0 and  2,000  meters 15,605,000,000  16,548,000,000 

Commercial  Use  of  Coal. — The  principal  use  of  Saar  coal  aside 
from  strictly  domestic  consumption  and  export  to  Germany,  is  in 
its  use  in  the  metallurgical  industry  both  in  the  Saar  District  and 
in  the  adjacent  Briey-Longwy  iron-ore  field. 

The  coking  coal  of  the  Saar  District  is  of  an  inferior  quality 
compared  to  that  of  the  French,  Belgian,  and  Westphalian  fields 
with  which  it  comes  in  competition.  Its  most  direct  competitor 
is  the  Westphalian  coal  which  yields  about  seventy-eight  per  cent, 
coke  against  about  fifty-two  per  cent,  for  the  Saar  field.  It  has 
been  found  that  the  Saar  coke  is  not  strong  enough  for  blast  fur- 
nace use.  The  best  coking  practice  in  the  Saar  District  provides 
for  an  admixture  of  twenty  per  cent,  of  Westphalian  coking  coal 
in  the  coke  ovens.  For  furnace  charges  one  hundred  fifty  tons 
of  Westphalian  coke  are  considered  the  equal  of  one  hundred 
eighty  tons  of  Saar  coke.  Reducing  these  factors  indicates  that 
Saar  coking  coal  for  furnace  use  is  sixty-seven  per  cent,  of  the 
value  of  Westphalian  coking  coal.  In  blast  furnace  practice,  it  is 


302 


H.  F.  CROOKS. 


customary  when  conditions  permit  to  make  the  charge  of  equal 
quantities  of  Saar  and  Westphalian  coke. 

Had  the  Saar  coal  not  been  in  competition  with  the  better  fuel 
from  Westphalia,  the  field  would  have  undoubtedly  been  more 
extensively  developed.  In  this  competitive  trade,  the  Saar  coal 
finds  its  best  use  for  steam,  gas,  and  domestic  purposes. 

Of  the  seventeen  coking  plants  in  the  Saar  District,  ten  belong 
to  the  Prussian  Government,  one  to  a French  Company,  and  six 
to  German  corporations. 

Conclusion. — It  has  been  shown  that  the  estimates  of  actual 
reserves  of  coal  in  the  Saar  District  will  probably  be  increased  by 
exploratory  work  in  the  western  portion  of  the  basin;  that,  with 
efficient  operation,  the  government  mines  can  be  expected  to  in- 
crease their  production  at  diminished  cost;  and  that  France  can- 
not rely  on  coking  coal  from  the  district  to  supply  that  formerly 
imported  from  Westphalia,  because  of  its  inferior  character  for 
metallurgical  work. 

An  estimate  of  the  value  of  German  interests  in  Saar  coal  lands, 
mines,  and  coking  plants  is  given  in  Table  XX.  In  this  estimate 

TABLE  XX. 

Estimated  Value  of  German  Interests  in  Saar  Coal  Lands, 

Coal  Mines,  and  Coking  Plants,  1913. 


Prussian  Government: 


Coal  lands  

Coal  mines  and  equipment 

Coke  plants  

Total  

. . 120,000,000  francs 
. . 160,000,000  francs 
. . 20,000,000  francs 

300,000,000  francs 

Bavarian  Government: 

Coal  lands  

Coal  mines  and  equipment 

Total  

. . 5,000,000  francs 

. . 6,000,000  francs 

11,000,000  francs 

Private  Coal  and  Coke  Companies: 

Coal  lands  

Coal  mines  and  equipment 

Coke  plants  

Total  

Less  French  interests  

Total  

. . 50,000,000  francs 
. . 44,000,000  francs 
. . 36,000,000  francs 
. . 130,000,000  francs 
. . 30,000,000  francs 

100,000,000  francs 

Grand  total  

411,000,000  francs 

NOTES  ON  COAL  INDUSTRY. 


303 


coal  lands  were  evaluated  at  1,200  francs  per  hectare,  mines  at  12 
francs  per  annual  ton  of  production,  and  coke  ovens  at  30,000 
francs  each;  the  figures  being  obtained  from  the  best  information 
at  hand. 

THE  COAL  INDUSTRY  OF  WESTPHALIA. 

General. — The  coal  fields  of  the  Westphalia  District  are  the 
largest  and  most  productive  in  Germany  and  contain  about  75 
per  cent,  of  the  total  German  reserves. 

There  are  included  in  the  district  two  distinct  basins.  The 
Westphalia  basin  proper  lying  east  of  the  Rhine  with  its  western 
extension,  the  North  Krefeld  basin,  and  the  discontinuous  basin 
of  Briiggen-Erkelenz  and  Wurm-Inde  areas.  Of  these  two 
basins,  that  lying  east  of  the  Rhine  produces  the  greater  propor- 
tion of  coal  mined  in  the  district.  (See  Fig.  35.) 

Geologic  Features. — The  coal  basin  of  the  Ruhr  offers  the 
greatest  analogy  with  the  Franco-Belgian  fields.  Coal  occurs  in 
the  same  geologic  horizon,  its  lower  part  composed  of  a succes- 
sion of  thick  sterile  sandstones  which  give  place  to  a succession 
of  coal  beds  in  which  one  observes  a like  enrichment  in  volatile 
matter  in  an  upward  direction.  Diastrophic  movements,  which 
resulted  in  the  crumpling  of  the  Franco-Belgian  coal  measures 
against  the  Ardennes  massif,  likewise  crushed  the  beds  on  the 
west  side  of  the  Rhine  against  the  Eifel,  and  those  east  of  the 
Rhine  against  the  granite  to  the  south.  The  latter  are  folded  in 
parallel  plications  under  the  action  of  this  lateral  pressure,  the 
folding  being  more  accentuated  in  the  southern  part  of  the  basin 
where  minor  plications  are  numerous  and  steep  than  in  the  north- 
ern part  where  the  folds  are  broad  and  deep.  Normal  faulting 
is  prominent,  radiating  to  the  northeast  and  southwest.  A large 
thrust  fault  delimits  the  southern  boundary  of  the  basin. 

Geographic  Distribution. — The  Westphalian  coal  district  or 
the  Basin  of  the  Ruhr  occupies  an  area  of  not  more  than  three 
thousand  square  kilometers  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Rhine,  ex- 
tending in  an  easterly  direction  from  Duisberg  to  Hamm,  a dis- 
tance of  about  one  hundred  and  forty  kilometers,  and  has  a 
width  in  the  vicinity  of  Dortmund  of  about  fifty-five  kilometers. 


304 


H.  F.  CROOKS. 


The  Briiggen-Erkelenz  coal  basin  lies  to  the  west  of  the  Rhine 
and  extends  in  a southerly  direction  from  the  Holland  frontier  to 
a little  beyond  Erkelenz,  having  a length  of  about  twenty  kilo- 
meters and  a width  of  about  eight  kilometers.  It  crosses  the 
Meuse  River  west  of  Venlo  and  is  known  in  Holland  as  the  non- 
conceded  Basin  of  the  Peel. 

The  North  Krefeld  coal  basin  is  the  westward  continuation  of 
the  Basin  of  the  Ruhr,  and  extends  west  from  the  Rhine  to  the 
Holland  frontier.  Its  length  in  a north-south  direction  is  about 
thirty-six  kilometers  and  its  width  from  east  to  west  is  about 
thirty  kilometers. 

The  Wurm-Inde  coal  district  has  for  its  center  Aix-la-Chapelle 
(Aachen).  It  continues  into  Belgium  as  the  Campine  Basin. 
From  just  west  of  Diiren  to  the  Belgian  frontier  it  has  a width  of 
twenty-seven  kilometers,  and  in  a north-south  direction  a length 
of  forty  kilometers. 

In  general,  the  various  kinds  of  coal  mined  in  the  Basin  of  the 
Ruhr  are  distributed  as  follows : 


Coal.  Depth,  Meters.  Part  of  Basin.  Thickness,  Meters. 

Gasflammenkohle  335  ± 7 

Gaskohle  72 0 * ± 22 

Fettkohle  568  West  ± 23^4 

Fettkohle  709  Central  ± 28 

Fettkohle  885  East  ± 36 

Fettkohle  600  North  ± 19 $4 

Magerkohle  1175  ±10 


Data  on  the  number  of  mines,  thickness  of  the  coal  mined,  and 
kind  of  coal  are  given  for  each  of  the  above  basins  of  the  West- 
phalian District  in  Table  XXI. 

Classification  of  Coal. — In  Westphalia,  coal  is  classified  com- 
mercially as  follows : 

Flammkohle  which  corresponds  to  the  long-flame  coal  of  France; 
Gazkohle  which  corresponds  to  the  short-flame  coal  of  France; 
Fettkohle  which  corresponds  in  part  to  both  short-flame  and 
semi-bituminous  coal  of  France; 

Magerkohle  which  corresponds  to  the  semi-bituminous  coal  of 
France;  and 

Anthrazit  which  corresponds  to  the  anthracite  coal  of  France. 


NOTES  ON  COAL  INDUSTRY. 


305 


TABLE  XXI. 

Westphalian  Coal  Mines,  and  Kind  of  Coal  Produced,  1913. 


Region. 

Location  of 

Mines  in 
Operation. 

No.  of  Coal 
Veins. 

Thickness  Coal 
(Meters). 

Ave.  Depth 
Mining 

Kind  of  Coal. 

Area. 

Ave. 

Max. 

(Meters). 

Ruhr .... 

East  of 
Rhine. 
Essen  as  a 
center 

173 

136 

0.80 

1.0 

698 

Long-flame, 

short-flame, 

semi-bitum. 

Aachen  . . 

Wiirm- 

Inde 

East,  South 
and  North  of 
Aachen 

12 

36 

O.4O 

1.6 

1,000 

Long-flame, 

short-flame, 

and 

semi-bitum. 

Briiggen- 

Erkelenz 

West  of 
Dusseldorf, 
left  bank  of 
Rhine 

14 

40 

O.40 

2.0 

700 

Long-flame, 
semi-bitum. 
and  semi- 
anthr. 

Nord- 

Krefeld 

Left  bank 
of  Rhine. 
North  of 
Krefeld. 

22 

49 

0-94 

1.2 

1,000 

Long-flame, 
short -flame, 
and  semi- 
bitum. 

A classification  on  the  basis  of  calorific  value  has  been  given  in 
the  article  on  the  Saar  District  on  page  298. 

Labor. — In  1913,  392,100  men  were  employed  in  the  mines  of 
the  Westphalian  coal  district,  of  whom  about  twenty-five  per 
cent,  were  foreign  laborers.  The  average  annual  production  per 
individual  for  that  year  was  299  metric  tons ; that  for  the  syndi- 
cate mines  being  300  tons,  and  that  for  the  non-syndicate  mines 
295  metric  tons  per  employee  per  year.  The  average  annual  sal- 
ary per  employee  for  both  syndicate  and  non-syndicate  mines 
was,  in  1913,  1,714  marks,  or  5.71  marks  per  day  for  three  hun- 
dred working  days. 

Cost  of  Mining  and  Profits. — Unfortunately  no  statistics  are 
available  which  would  enable  a separation  to  be  made  between 
the  earnings  of  mines  adherent  to  the  Westphalian  Coal  Syndi- 
cate and  those  that  are  non-syndicate.  However,  it  is  fairly  cer- 
tain that  the  profits  of  the  former  exceeded  the  latter,  since  the 
Syndicate  virtually  controlled  the  fuel  supply  of  the  blast  fur- 
naces and  steel  plants,  thus  being  able  to  dictate  prices.  By  agree- 


306 


H.  F.  CROOKS. 


ment  with  the  Stahlswerkverband  which  controls  the  iron  ancf 
steel  industry,  a fixed  price  was  named  for  a given  annual  ton- 
nage of  coal,  the  Syndicate  being  at  liberty  to  name  its  own  price 
per  ton  for  all  additional  amounts  supplied.  In  19 11,  this  agree- 
ment was  broken  with  the  result  in  1912  that  the  price  of  coal 
advanced  1.68  marks  over  the  1911  price  and  showed  an  addi- 
tional increase  in  1913  of  0.60  marks  over  the  1912  price.  Table 
XXII.  shows  that  even  with  this  increase  the  profits  per  ton  of 
coal  in  1913  were  less  than  the  average  profit  for  the  nine  pre- 
ceding years. 


Cost,  Average  Selling  Price,  and  Profit  Per  Ton  of  Coal. 


I904-I912. 

19I3* 

Per  Metric  Ton. 

Marks. 

Average  Selling 
Price  (%). 

Marks. 

Average  Selling 
Price  (%). 

Total  cost 

8.l6 

85-57 

100.00 

10.66 

88.66 

Average  selling  price  at  mine 

9-54 

1.38 

12.02 

100.00 

Profit 

14.43 

1.36 

11-34 

Production  of  Coal. — In  this  paper  the  Westphalian  District  is 
understood  to  include  the  coal  Basin  of  the  Ruhr,  the  North 
Krefeld  basin,  the  Briiggen-Erkelenz  basin,  and  the  Wiirm-Inde 
district,  otherwise  known  as  the  Aachen  or  Aix-la-Chapelle  dis- 
trict. The  statistics  on  the  Basin  of  the  Ruhr  include  the  Nieder- 
heinischer-Westfalischer  commercial  district  and  the  Schaftberg- 
Piesberg  districts,  also  a portion  of  the  Oberbergamtsbezirk 
Dortmund. 

The  total  coal  production  of  Prussia,  in  which  all  of  these  coal 
basins  lie,  was,  in  1913,  181,413,000  metric  tons;  that  of  all  Ger- 
many was  191,511,000  metric  tons.  Of  the  total  Prussian  pro- 
duction, 64  per  cent,  was  produced  by  the  Westphalian  District, 
as  was  62  per  cent,  of  the  total  German  production. 

With  the  exception  of  the  North  Krefeld  basin  no  data  on  the 
production  of  the  small  basins  has  been  found.  This  basin  pro- 
duced 3,700,000  metric  tons  of  coal  in  1913. 

The  enormous  increase  in  production  of  21,334,800  metric 
tons  for  the  Westphalian  District  as  a whole  between  the  years  of 


NOTES  ON  COAL  INDUSTRY. 


307 


19 1 1 and  1913,  is  thought  to  be  due  not  only  to  the  opening  up 
of  eleven  new  mines,  but  to  the  more  intensive  and  efficient  min- 
ing methods  adopted  by  the  older  mines. 

A tabulation  of  data  on  the  coal  mines  of  the  Westphalian  Dis- 
trict and  their  production  for  the  decade  1904-1913  is  given  in 
Table  XXIII. 

TABLE  XXIII. 

Coal  Mines  of  Westphalia  and  their  Productivity  (Metric  Tons). 


1904. 

1910. 

1913- 

No.  of  mines 

160 

248 

67,255,000 

95-00 

3,489,000 

5-oo 

169 

250 

83,628,000 

91.10 

8,116,500 

8.90 

185 

299 

101,652,000 

86.50 

15.795.300 

13-50 

Ann.  prod,  per  employee 

Prod,  of  Syndicate  Mines 

% of  total  production 

Prod.  Non-Syn.  Mines 

% of  total  production 

Total  production15 

70,744,000 

91,844,500 

117,447,300 

Aver,  selling  price  per  ton  (marks) i 8.25 

9-79 

12.02 

Imports  and  Exports. — Of  the  total  coal  mined  in  Westphalia 
in  1913,  27  per  cent,  was  exported  to  foreign  countries  and  to 
other  parts  of  Germany.  This  figure  includes  coke  as  well  as 
coal.  The  realtively  large  local  consumption  is  necessitated  by 
the  demands  of  the  metallurgical  and  manufacturing  industries 
located  at  Essen,  Ruhrort,  Duisberg,  Dortmund,  and  Hamm, 
which  consume  annually  about  4,500,000  tons  of  Lorraine  iron 
ore. 

Extensive  canalization  of  rivers  in  Germany  and  to  the  west 
has  lowered  freight  rates  as  well  as  made  accessible  large  inland 
manufacturing  towns;  and  that,  together  with  the  navigable 
Rhine  giving  egress  to  the  English  Channel,  has  made  the  West- 
phalian coal  fields  of  unrivaled  importance  in  Europe. 

A tabulation  of  exports  during  the  period  1904  to  1913  is 
given  in  Table  XXIV. 

This  tabulation  for  years  1904-1913  is  graphically  shown  in 
Fig.  40. 

14  Total  production  of  all  mines  in  the  Ruhr,  Krefeld,  Bruggen-Erkelenz, 
and  Aachen  Basins,  including  Syndicate  and  Non-Syndicate  Mines. 


308 


H.  F.  CROOKS. 


Reserves. — The  estimates  of  Kukuk  and  Mintrop  given  before 
the  Twelfth  International  Geological  Congress  in  1913  are  the 


^ iff  CO 

O ° O 


2 

0> 


Fig.  40.  Westphalian  Production,  Consumption  and  Exports  of  Coal. 


TABLE  XXIV. 

Coal  Production,  Consumption,  and  Exports  of  Westphalia 
(Metric  Tons). 


1904. 

1910. 

19*3- 

Total  production 

70,774,000 

663,000 

2.311.000 

7.619.000 

3.800.000 

91,884,500 

2,007,800 

4,213,900 

11,925,000 

6,214,000 

117,447.300 

2.688.000 

5.728.000 
15,603,000 

7.749.000 

Exports  to  France 

“ “ Belgium 

“ “ Germany 

“ “ Other  countries 

Total  exports 

i4»393.ooo 

24,360,700 

31,768,000 

Total  consumption 

56,381,000 

67,438, 800E. 

85.679.300E  , 

E — estimated. 


only  ones  at  hand;  they  are  given  in  a rearranged  form  in  the 
table  below.  Exploratory  work  by  drilling  in  the  north,  east, 
and  west  portions  of  the  basin  will  serve  to  delimitate  it  and  at 


NOTES  ON  COAL  INDUSTRY. 


309 


the  same  time  give  more  accurate  knowledge  as  to  the  actual  coal 
reserves.  The  southern  border  only  has  been  definitely  fixed  as 
to  the  depth  at  which  mining  can  at  present  be  conducted  at  a 
profit. 

Exclusive  of  the  Saar  District  it  is  known  that  85  per  cent, 
of  the  total  actual  reserves  of  cokable  coal  in  Germany  lie  in  the 
Basin  of  the  Ruhr,  and  that  72  per  cent,  of  the  total  actual  re- 
serves of  all  kinds  of  coal,  eliminating  the  Saar  District,  likewise 
occur  there. 

TABLE  XXV. 


The  Actual  Coal  Reserves  of  Westphalia,  1913  (Metric  Tons). 


Between  o and  1,200  Meters. 

Between  0 and  2,000  Meters. 

Cokable  Coal. 

Total  Coal. 

Cokable  Coal. 

Total  Coal. 

Right  hank  of  Rhine: 
Westphalia 

26,373,000,000 

39,481,000,090 

33,354,000,000 

m 

56,344,000,000- 

Left  hank  of  Rhine: 
Nord-Kref elder  . 

3.538,000,000 

7,100,000,000 

3,538,0*00,000 

7,100,000,000 

Briiggen- 

Erkelenz 

1,732,000,000 

1,746,000,000 

1,732,000,000 

1, 746, 000, CO) 

Wiirm-Inde 

537,000,000 

1,612,000,000 

537,000,000 

1,612,000,000 

Total 

32,180,000,000 

61,454,000,000 

39,l6l,000,000 

78,317,000,000 

Commercial  Use  of  Westphalian  Coal. — It  is  due  to  the  loca- 
tion of  the  Westphalian  District  at  practically  tidewater  as  well 
as  to  the  excellent  quality  of  the  coal  for  metallurgical  and  indus- 
trial purposes,  that  the  coal  operators  of  the  district  have  been 
able  to  control  to  such  an  extent  the  industry  of  Germany.  Coal 
from  the  district  is  used  not  only  in  all  parts  of  Germany  but  also 
in  western  Europe  in  general.  It  is  this  widespread  use  of  the 
fuel  that  has  enabled  the  Westphalian  Coal  Syndicate  to  control 
to  such  an  extent  the  industry  as  well  as  the  metallurgy  of  the 
The  coal  is  extensively  used  for  coking  purposes.  Due  to 
refinements  in  process,  the  Germans  have  secured  an  almost  in- 
credibly high  recovery  of  by-products,  and  it  is  this  efficiency  of 
operation  that  has  enabled  them  to  undersell  French  and  Belgian 
competitors. 

Conclusion. — The  foregoing  statements  and  figures  present  in- 
controvertible evidence  of  the  dominating  position  of  Westpha- 


3io 


H.  F.  CROOKS. 


liancoal  in  the  metallurgical  industry  of  western  Europe.  France 
is  dependent  upon  it  even  with  the  acquisition  of  the  Saar  fields, 
as  is  Belgium.  The  exchange  of  Lorraine  ore  for  Westphalian 
coke  would  probably  temporarily  solve  the  problem. 

It  has  been  shown,  as  well,  that  the  district  not  only  produces 
excellent  grades  of  metallurgical  coal  in  larger  quantities  than  the 
other  countries  under  consideration,  but  also  more  cheaply.  In 
1913,  the  total  cost  of  mining  represented  only  89  per  cent,  of 
the  selling  price,  while  in  France  the  same  relation  was  93  per 
cent.,  and  in  Belgium,  96  per  cent.  The  average  sale  price  of 
Westphalia  and  Saar  coal,  in  1913,  was  9.64  francs  per  ton 
against  an  average  price  of  17.44  francs  per  ton  for  the  same 
year  for  France  and  Belgium. 

In  other  words,  German  competitors  undersell  French  and  Bel- 
gian operators  90  per  cent.,  yet  make  profits  100  per  cent,  in  ex- 
cess of  those  of  these  two  countries ! 

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3ll 


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... 


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